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“Kevin McCully, ma’am,” I said, taking her hand lightly in mine.
“Meredith Brookehaven,” she said with a broader smile, drawing her hand back. “You must be the latest on Sophia’s chopping block.”
“Yet to be chopped,” I said with a chuckle.
“Sophia never told me where you studied,” Meredith said, tilting her head.
“Ah, Portland University,” I said with a wide smile. “I signed up for the chance of an internship in the hopes that my merit would be enough.”
“And here you are,” Meredith said. “You must have been impressive.”
“He’ll do for the moment,” Sophia said, eyeing me for a moment.
Meredith chuckled. “Well, I won’t hold you two up any longer. I’m sure you have more than enough hands to shake. Heaven knows I do. Do find me later, won’t you?”
“Of course,” Sophia said stiffly.
I stayed just behind Sophia as Meredith turned toward the open doorway and waved at someone I couldn’t see outside. It left Sophia and me standing off to the side, and I could sense she was waiting to say something when she wouldn’t risk being overheard.
“Why Portland?” she asked quietly.
“Because if I mentioned an Ivy League school, she would have asked a lot of questions about my background that I wouldn’t be able to effectively lie about,” I said, smiling when someone coming in caught my eye. “And this way, you look like a woman who values people based on merit rather than parentage or money.”
“Are you a natural-born liar, or were you taught?”
“Considering you were the one who ‘requested’ this of me, I suppose I should be asking you the same question.”
“Taught.”
“And I was self-taught.”
She eyed me for a moment longer, her expression giving nothing away as she turned. “We’ll see if you manage to keep that up throughout the night without causing me any problems. Come, it’s nearly time to go our separate ways for a little while, so it’s best you’re seen at my side.”
Not that I was precisely at her side, I had been told to stay a few inches behind her when we were together. It felt like an archaic way of establishing rank, but I wasn’t going to argue if it meant people were more likely to show her attention than me. As content as I was with the story I had begun to establish for myself to keep up the farce Sophia expected me to create, I wasn’t looking forward to maintaining and building upon it.
As I was quick to learn, however, being seen with Sophia wasn’t simply a matter of standing in the background and looking pretty. I had no idea if it was because everyone politely didn’t want to leave me out of the conversation or if people were unwilling to ignore anyone Sophia brought with her. Still, every single person she interacted with also spared at least a few moments of their time to talk directly to me.
Sophia explained next to nothing about the people that approached us, but I thought I did a reasonably decent job at evaluating who each person was and what they were about. There were several couples and groups I managed to identify by their regional US accents. A handful spoke in a way that was eerily reminiscent of the straightforward, no-nonsense manner Sophia had, and I pegged them as probable other heads of industry.
Others I could tell came from the uppermost crust of society but didn’t strike me as particularly ambitious or dedicated. These were the ones I found more outgoing and friendly and usually the ones I had to be the most careful about. They reminded me a great deal of the impression Meredith had given me, cordial, warm, and more interested in having a good time than in whatever networking the more business-oriented were doing.
There were the outliers, of course, including a couple who I left the conversation wondering if they spoke a lick of English or had simply refused to switch from French. Another couple had spoken in heavily accented English, but they had at least been friendly, and I had made the woman blush when I praised the swirling gem pattern on the fringe of her kimono.
It took nearly an hour until someone called across the room, and I spotted one of the men Sophia had lingered to talk with soon after our arrival. The man had spoken in a loud, booming voice, and his laughter had been just the same. Despite knowing he and I were worlds apart, I liked his laidback manner and the almost casual way he spoke to Sophia when everyone else was incredibly formal and polite with her.
“And there marks the ‘fun’ of the night ending for me for a little while,” Sophia said, though she didn’t sound unhappy about it. She turned to look me over critically. “This is where I leave you on your own and hope you can somehow manage to get through without incident.”
“I’m sure I’ll manage,” I said, wishing the time for her treatment had come and gone already. At least then I could have taken a few of the sparkling drinks I had seen being passed around by well-dressed servers with glittering silver trays. “I have my phone on me should you find yourself in need of anything.”
“I’m quite sure I’ll be fine.”
“Still. I’m sure I can manage to pull you away from whatever business you’re dealing with in a believable way if you're having any medical issues. It’s not as if most people don’t already know and expect that any intern of yours might as well be a personal assistant to jerk around on a short leash.”
Her brow arched, but I couldn't tell if it was because of surprise or annoyance. “Do they?”
“Your reputation is known, far and wide. And even I know what demands you place on your interns, you all but told me yourself.”
“I told you no such thing,” she said, adjusting her clothes with short, sharp gestures.
